Cutting-machine.



s. J. WEN'TWORTH.

CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27. 1916.

Patented Sept. 24, 1918.

m u n n u u UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL J; WENTWORTH, E NEWPORT, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNQR,'13Y MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, '10 'UNI'I'ED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY,

A conronn'rioiv or NEW JERSEY.

CUTTING-Macrame Application filed March 27, 1916. Serial No. 87,018.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL J. WENT- WORTH, a, citizen of the United States, residing at Newport, in the county of Campbell and State of Kentucky, have invented certain Improvements in Cutting-Machines,

of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating likeparts in the several figures. I

This -inve.ntion relates to machines for cutting out orcutting ofi the exposed .por-. tions of the baoking'in applique work, and

is herein illustrated in connection with a machine for ornamenting boots and shoes 1 in the formation ofxwhat is known to the trade as inlaid panel Work.

In certain kinds of fancy shoesit iscustomary to die out ornamental openings'in the upper and then, after the lining has been attached to the upper to cut out those portions of the lining which are exposed by the died-out openings in'the upper. The openings in the finished shoe thus extend entirely through the upper and lining,- and. the pattern-ofv theopenings becomes conspicuous by reason of the' brightcolored stockings with which shoesof thistype are" designed tov be worn. The uppers at the edges of the died-out openings are stitched to the lining,' thereby forming appliquework in which the ornamented upper or I pattern is appliqud upon a plain-lining.

Hitherto it has been customary to. cut out the exposed portions of the-lining by means of. an ordinary knife, the 'workbeing done manually; and. the general object of the a present invention is to produce a-m-achine for performing this operation. According to one feature of the invention the-knife 1 reciprocates through an: opening in the work support and is angularly movable about an axis located in advance of the cutting edge thereof. In .the illustrative machine the'knife is mounted for free an-- gular inovement about the axis of a guide so that, as the work is moved alongwith the -tering opening in the lining.

guide in contact with the edge of an opening in the upper, the knife cuts a regis- This and other features of the invention, including certain details of construction and combinations of parts will be descrlbed in connection with an illustrative machine and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referrlng now to the accompanying drawings,

' Patented Sept. .24, 1918.

Fig. 4 is a perspective showing the knife in operation upon a piece of work.

Figs. 2, 3 aud t are upon an' enlarged scale. j v

Mounted in an overhanging arm 1 of the frame ofthe machine is a rotary shaft 3 7 having fast at' one end a clutch member 5 and loose at\the same'end a sliding clutch pulley]; A bell crank lever 9 pivoted at 11 "has a. brakemember 13 at the end of one arm andat the endof the other arm a disk 15 which contacts with the hub of the pulley 7 so that'when the bell crank lever is swung in a counter-clockwise direce tionthe clutch pulley 7 is pressedagainst the clutch member 5 to apply power to the shaft 3' and the brake 13 is swung away from the member 5, and when the bell crank lever 9 is swung in a clockwise direction the clutch pulley 7 is freed from the clutch member ,5 and the brake .13 is applied to said last-named member. Normally, as will presently appear, the bell crank lever is held, as 'shown, in its extreme counter-clockwise position loy-a link 17 with power ap- 'Bplied to the driving shaft 3 and the brake '13 in inoperative position. This link 17 is pivoted at its upper end at 19 to the horizontal arm of the bell crank lever 9 and at its lower end passes through an eye in the end of a work support carrying lever 21 which is pivoted to the frame of the machine .at 23, said lever being normally, held in the position shown against a stop,

nut 25 on and 27 by a coiled spring 29, the

rod passingloosely through the lever as. shown. A treadle (not shown) attached to a treadle rod 31 provides meansfor pulling the forward end of the lever 21 downwardly,

and a stotp screw 33 furnishes adjustable means for limiting-the extent of such movement. Aspring 34 engages with its upper end a nut or-collar 35 fast to the link 17 and with its lower end the tail of the lever 21 so that when the treadle attached to the rod 31 is depressed the .brake 13 is applied yieldingly.

The forward end of the lever 21 carrles a Work support in the form of a thimble 37, upon the rim of which the .work rests, said thimble having in the center thereof an auxiliary support 39 in the form of an upright cylindrical standard of small cross section the function of which is to support the lining 200 close to the point at which the cutting is being done. A ring-shaped presserfoot 41 has an operative lower face which registers. with the rim of the thimble 37,

said foot being fast to a stem 43 which is adjustably held in a head on the overhanging arm 1 by a set screw 45. This presser foot 41 is stationary during the operation of the machine, the stop nut 25 which'lim'its'the upward movementof the thimble 37 being so adjusted that the work is not gripped between the-foot 41 and the rim of the thimble 37, but is loosely held so that the operator may move the work to cause the cutting to take place. The function of the ring-shaped presser foot 41 and the coiiperating work supporting rim of the thimble is somewhat analogous to that of an embroidery frame in which a portion of a piece of fabric is held taut over one ring by another ring which fits over the first one. In the'present machine it is desirable that the portion of the work which is being operated uponbe held as taut as possible but that at the same time the work should be freely movable so that it may be properly manipulated to cause the knife to follow the edge of the" opening in the upper 100.' Consequently. the pressure of the footi41 on the work .is

very light. Inasmuch, however, as the work usually operated upon consists of two layers of leather (the upper and the lining), this is sufiicient to prevent buckling of the work within the circle of the presser foot and rim. Although the rim of the thimble is the work-support proper since it supports that portion of the work which is being operated upon, the machine is provided with a bed 46 7 upon which the Work may lie. Ordinarily an'upper and its attached lining is a comparatively large article so that it is desirable to provide a bed for those portions of it which are not being operated upon.

In order to guide the knife and to grip the lining firmly at a point adjacent the point which is being operated upon by the knife, a guide member '47 is formed on the end of a finger 49 which projects from the base of. the presser foot into the center of the circular portion thereof. This guide is of a cross-section approximately equal to that of the auxiliary support 39 and is held against the edge of the opening in the upper while the work is moved during the cutting operation. The lower end or face of this guide extends below the plane of the operative face of the presser foot 41 and presses the lining against the upper end of the 'aux-' iliary support 39 to hold said lining firmly at a point close to the edge of the knife.

The knife 51 is adj ustably held between two ears 53 by a pinch screw 55 said ears bein part of a collar 57 whichis freely rev olub e on the lower end of a reciprocatory knife-bar 59. A crank pin on a disk 61' fast to the end of the shaft 3 is connected to a pin on the knife bar 59' by" a connecting rod 63 so that the knife is 'reciprocated con-J tinuously as long as power is applied "to the driving shaft 3. The axis of-the bar 59 upon which the knife-is mounted coin-'1 cides with the axis of the guide 47 and that of the auxiliarysupport 39; andthe blade of theknife', 'that "1s;its direction of cut, is 7 a radial to this,axis -ITheknife' may be ad' justed toward and from this axis after the pinch screw 55 'has been loosened, and is free to swing about this axis nearly three hundred and sixty degrees from contact? with one side of the finger 49; to contact down by depressing the treadle which is attached to the treadle rod '31. The treadle is then released, whereupon the spring 29 raises the work; support'to cause the sharp point of the knife to pierce the lining and simultaneously, through the bell crank lever .9, starts. the reciprocation of the knife. I If the operator" is skilful, the guide 47 isin .contact with the edge'of the ornamental opening in the upper'at the time the knife pierces the lining. In any event, however,

this position may be readily secured by moving the stock slightly. Starting then with the guide 47 in contact with the edge of the opening in the upper and the knife lying alongside said edge, the operator moves the stock in a path determined by the shape of said opening to cause the knife to cut out the exposed portion of the lining. If the knife were not free to swing about the axis of the guide 47 it would be necessary to swing the stock when a curve was encountered, but withthe present construction no such swinging movement is-imparted to the stock. Considering the illustrated piece of stock in which the opening in the upper is of a general rectangular shape except for the rounded ends, the various positions occupied by the edge 300 during the entire cutting operation are parallel to one another, the knife swinging about its axis when a change in the direction of the cut is required. As illustrated in Fig. 2 the knife diagonally awayfrom himself and to the remainingdirections of movement are in- I dicated by the arrows :first to the right,

1 The description ofjthe right, then. momentarily straight to the right until the parts reached the position illustrated inthe figure was reached. The

then diagonally toward himself and to the right, then diagonally toward himself and .to the left, then straight to-the left to the point of beginning, 1

movement of the work which has been given above is only approximately correct and, has been presented .to facilitate. an understanding of the movement of the knife around the axis of the scribed by such a point is slightly smaller than the outline of the opening owing to the guide 47. Speaking more accurately, any selected' -point in the work describes, during I the cutting operation, a figure'which is-prac-i tically -identical withthe outlineof the opening in, the upper. Of course the figure defactthat the guide 47 is nota point but has "an appreciable diameter.5.TheJactua1 size of theguide 47, however, is small with the re-' sult that the opening cut in the lining'is coextenslve with the opening in the upper. The reason why the knife '51 always alines itself with its edge presented-- in a direction opposite to that in which the work is being moved can perhaps'be understood by considering how it would present itself if the work remained stationary and the knife bar ,59

. were moved in such a manner that its axis traveled in contact with the edge of the opening in the upper. In such a case the knife, since it is pivoted about th'esaid axis,

would swing in response to every change in. direction of movement of the stem 59 much as a freely movable rudder on a boat would swing if the boat were steered by some means not connected with such rudder. The

angular'movements of the knife in the present' machine, in which the axis about which it swings is stationary, are more nearly analogous to those of a weather vane whlch' points always toward the direction from which the wind blows. As has been stated above, the guide 47 is of very small cross section; and it should be understood that the blade of the knife is very narrow so as to corners the angles of which are less than.

ninety degrees.

Although the invention has been set forth in connection with a particular machine, it should be understood that the invention is not limited in the scope of its application to the particular machine shown and described. Having thusdescribed my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States:

' 1. A machine of the'class described, having, in combination, a support for a piece of stock, said support having an opening there in, a knife extending into said opening, and a reciprocating knife bar upon which the knife is revolubly mounted, the axis of the bar being in advance of the knife whereby y when the stock is moved against the knife, said knife presents its cutting edge in a di-' rection opposite to that in which the stock is being movied. I r 2. A machineof the class described, having, in-combination, a support for a piece of stock, said support having an opening therein, a knife extending into said opening, a re ciprocating knife bar upon which the knife is revolubly mounted and with respect to the'90 ,axis of which the knife is offset; whereby when the stock is movedagainst the knife, said knife presents its cutting edgein a direc tion oppositeto that'in which the stock. is

being moved, and a guide the axis of which '95 coincides with the axis of theknife-bar.

3. A machine of the class described, hav- 1 ing, in-combination, asup'port for a piece of stock, said support having an opening therein, a knife extending into said opening, a

reciprocating knife bar upon which the knife is revolubly mounted and with respect to' the axis of which the knife is offset whereby when the stock is moved against the knife, v said knife presents its cutting edge in, a .direction opposite to that in which the stock is being moved, and means for gripping the llsiipefk at a; point close to the edge of the 4. A machine for operating upon ap-T 'pliqu work, having, in combination, a sup.- port, a guide adapted to engage the edge of the pattern, a'knife angularly movable about said guide, and means for reciprocat ing said knife.

' 5.- A machine for operating upon applique-work, having, in combination, a support, a guide adapted to engage the edge of the pattern, a presser foot having an opening in which, said guide islocated, a knife angularly movable about said guide, and 'means for, reciprocating said knife.

'6. A .machine for operating upon appliqu work, having, in combination; a support provided with an opening therein, an auxiliary support of small cross' section located in said opening, a knife angularly .movable about said auxiliary support, and means for reciprocating said knife.

7. A machine for operating upon apextends through said opening, the axis be-' ing located in advance'of'the knife, means for reciprocating said knife, and means for guiding said knife along the edge of the is moved over said pattern as-said work opening. y

9; A machine for operating upon appliqu work, having, in combination, a support provided with anxopening therein, an

i auxiliary support of small cross sectionvlocated in said opening, a guide adapted to engage the edge of the. pattern, said guide I being located in register with. said auxiliary support, a knife extending into said opening and angularly movable about said guide and ing said knife. 10. A machine for operating upon appliqu work, having, in combination, a support in the form. of a an auxiliary support in the center thereof, a

auxiliary support, and means forreciprocatpresser foot registering with the rim of'the thimble and having a guide registering with] the auxiliary support, aknife movable about the axis of said guide and auxiliary suF- port, and means for reciprocatingsaid kni e.

11. A machine for operating uponap'- pliqu work, having, incombination, a support in the-form of a thimble provided with anauxiliary support in the center'thereof, a presser foot registering with the rim of the thimble and having a guide registering with the auxiliarysupport, aknife movable about the axis of-said guide and auxiliary support, and meansf r reciprocating said knife, said .thimble'being movable from and toward said foot and knife to permit the work to be placed over the thimble andto cause it to be pierced by the km e.

12. A machine for operating upon apoperating upon ap- 1 port provided with support, a skeleton parallel to that of the su spaced from thimble provided with opening, aknife bar upon which for pliqu work, having, in combination, a support provided withan opening therein, an auxiliary support of small'cross sectionylocated in said opening and having its upper operative end flush with the plane of'said support, a skeleton presser. foot the. plane of the lower operative'face of which is parallel to that of the supportand spaced therefrom,

a guideofsmall cross section arranged to co"perate with said auxiliary support and having its loweroperative face spaced from said auxiliary that between the presser foot and the main support, and a knife freely revoluble about the axis of said guide and offset from said axis. r

' 13. A machine for operating upon appliqu work, having, in combination, a supan opening therein, an auxiliary support of small cross section 10- cated-in said opening and having its upper flush with the plane of said presser foot the plane of the lower operative face of which is port and spaced cross section aroperative end therefrom, a guide of sma l ranged to cooperate with said auxiliary sup-" port and having its lower operative face I said auxiliary support a distance less than that between the presser foot and the .mainsupport, and a reciprocating knife freely revoluble about the axis of said guide and offset from said axis.

'14. A machine of the class described, hav

ing, in combination, a support for a piece of stock, said support having an openin therein,

the knife is revolubly' mounted and with respect to the axis of which the knife is offset, a shaft rotation of which causes reciprocation of said said support, and means connected with said last-named means for applying power to and withdrawing power I from said shaft '1 4 1 whereby when said support is lowered said support is knife comes to rest and when said raised said lmife'reciprocatesr In testimon 1 whereofl have signed 'my name to. this specification. I

Samar-Waterman.

a knife extending through sai I support a distanceless than knife bar, means for raising and lowering. 

